Down the Road
by MissMandS
Summary: It becomes a routine in the afternoons, after she does her check for Nori to take Meeko and go to Bombur's house. To sit down with Bifur and watch as Abby chases around the cat who tries its best to dodge all of her grabs. Each day she brings her sketchbook to show Bifur the art of that day: a new piece, a finished piece. Part 7 of Femslash February. Fem!Bifur, Fem!Ori, Fem!Bilbo.


Each day after she gets home from school the first thing Ori does is drop her backpack onto the couch. Around her feet the cats purr and meow, brushing against her in the hopes that she might pay them some attention. They follow after her as she wanders through the living room, searching for a pack of cigarettes, a strand of hair, a blanket. Any sign that her brother was here last night or some point during the day and that she has just missed him. Most days there is no sign of Nori, only a note left by Dori asking her to clean up after herself and get into bed by a decent time. On the rare days that Nori is home she finds him in the kitchen, drinking coffee or falling asleep at the table. He always offers her a sleepy smile and holds up the note from Dori as the cats swarm around his ankles.

Most days though Nori isn't home and it's just her alone with the cats. On those days Ori drops her backpack and does her search. When her search results in nothing she sighs and grabs her homework, sketchpad and some snacks for both her and the cats then goes to sit out on her front porch. Today is a particularly sunny day, warm enough that she doesn't need an overly baggy cardigan. She sheds it and lets it hang over the railing of the stairs and sticks her chocolate bar into her mouth as she lifts her pencil, her legs stretching out in front her. She draws in peace for a while, munching on the chocolate that threatens to melt and drip down her front until she hears her brother's familiar voice.

"You know Dori will kill you if he finds out you ate chocolate for dinner. That's not a proper meal for a young girl." Nori says, leaning against the railing and tsking at her. Ori swallows the final mouthful and scowls up at her older brother who doesn't look the least bit cowed by her annoyance.

"Dori doesn't have to know. And besides, this isn't going to be my whole dinner, it's just a snack." Nori only hums and steps around the railing, joining her on the stairs. He fishes in his pocket and pulls out a cigarette. The two sit there in relative silence for a few minutes, Ori sketching and Nori smoking.

"Here comes Bofur." Nori announces between drags and sure enough their neighbor is walking towards them with his floppy eared hat atop his head and smile on his face. Ori scoots over and makes room for the man to settle himself between them. As she scoots over she looks between her feet where the cats rub against her ankles and notices with dismay that one of her cats, Meeko is missing.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go and find Meeko." She announces to Nori who doesn't notice, exchanging cigarettes with Bofur. With her other cats, they usually stay around her when she was outside. They would lounge on her legs; nestle in her cardigan, atop the hoods of the cars or beside her on the stairs. Meeko though, she would wander and cause mischief. Today is no exception it seems. Ori sighs as she passes by another empty garden, void of any cats. As she's preparing to turn back towards home and ask Nori for help she hears the excited squeal.

"Kitty cat, kitty cat," Ori follows the excited squeals until she finds herself in front of a yard where two adults sit on the front porch. A little child stands in front of them, trying desperately to cradle Meeko to their chest who squirms valiantly in an effort to get down. The child holds Meeko up to one of the adults, smiling widely even as she continues her squirming.

"Look at the kitty cat, auntie." Ori steps forward as Meeko finally escapes from the child's arms, moving into the lap of the adult in question. It's a woman with thick, wild black hair that hangs around her face despite the ponytail that hangs down her back. It gives her the appearance of someone who just rolled out of bed despite the police uniform that wears. She looks at Ori questioningly then smiles, standing up and walking towards her with Meeko still in her arms.

"Your cat we assume?" The woman says and without waiting hands out Meeko. Ori sighs as the calico settles itself around her neck, purring contently. At her feet the child looks disheartened, wide green eyes rapidly filling up with tears at the sight of the cat now perched on Ori.

"I'm sorry about that. Meeko has a tendency of wandering off on me; it seems that she likes to wander down here. I'll tell you what; if it's okay with your parents then I'll bring her down here to let you play with her." The child looks back at the other adult, a pudgy, balding redheaded man who practically beams as he nods. Ori smiles as the child lets out an enthusiastic shout and with that, she holds Meeko a little tighter to her as she begins to walk back home.

Nori doesn't even look up from his conversation as Ori and the cats march back into the house.

As promised she returns to the house the next day and is surprised to see Bofur sitting there on the front doorstep, stuffing things into his pocket as he mutters to himself. He pauses in his walking to throw her a happy smile.

"Afternoon to you lass." Bofur calls.

"I didn't know you lived here Bofur." Ori calls.

"Ah, well my brother Bombur and his wife just recently had twins. They can get all the help they need you see. Abby is waiting for you on the front porch, right along with Bifur." And sure enough there on the front porch is the little girl from yesterday along with the woman she called auntie, still in her police uniform. At the sight of Meeko, Abby stands up, eyes alight with joy.

"Remember what we talked about: no tail pulling, ear pinching and you pet the cat in one direction." The woman says. When Abby gives a solemn nod Ori lets Meeko down and watches as Abby lets out a squeal, chasing after her. Ori hesitates, her fingers tightening around the edges of her sketchpad. She throws a doubtful look towards the woman then sits down on the edge of the porch, opening up her sketchpad.

"We're planning to breed Meeko in a few weeks. If Bombur and his wife want, I can put a kitten aside." Ori offers as she flips through her drawings. Beside her the woman watches Abby chase after Meeko, calling for her to come back.

"My cousin is bad at introductions. I'm Bifur." The woman turns towards Ori and holds a hand out. Ori's hands are covered with dried pant, ink and pencil marks but Bifur only smiles as their hands brush.

"Ori." She says and tries in vain to wipe the marks off on her jeans.

"Meeko isn't the only cat you know that sneaks out." Bifur says dryly.

"I know." Ori says and from the corner of her eye sees Bifur's lips twitch up in a smile.

It becomes a routine in the afternoons, after she does her check for Nori to take Meeko and go to Bombur's house. To sit down with Bifur and watch as Abby chases around the cat who tries its best to dodge all of her grabs. Each day she brings her sketchbook to show Bifur the art of that day: a new piece, a finished piece, a draft that will never be finished or the bare bones or a new piece. And each day they sit closer and closer together, hands and knees brushing as they lean closer and closer together. When the door creaks open they jump apart as though they've been burned and Ori flushes as Bombur tells Abby that it's time for dinner. And when Ori collects Meeko to go home, she always feels a little sad. When she gets home, a half smile on her face with Meeko around her neck Dori and Nori don't even notice.

It's a couple months into her visits, that Ori is stopped on the way there by Bofur. The normally cheerful looking man looks tired, his expression worn as he places a hand onto her shoulder.

"Not today lass. Today won't be a good day to visit." Ori's brow furrows as Meeko shifts around her neck.

"Not today? Is Abby sick?" Bofur's face falls even more at her question and Ori worries now if perhaps one of the twins is sick.

"Bifur last night, she stopped to help someone fix a tire. Lass, there was a hit and run accident." Ori swallows automatically against her throat closing up, her knees locking desperately as the world threatens to fall out from underneath her feet.

"Is there….Is there anything I can do to help?" Bofur sighs and shakes his head.

"No lass, I appreciate the offer though. I'll tell Bifur that you asked about her." And so Ori goes home; rubbing halfheartedly at Meeko, who still hangs around her neck. For a week straight she continues her old routine but her sketches are halfhearted and sloppy, the cats lazing around and hiding as if sensing the cloud she hovers under. After a week she goes to the flower shop Dori works at and finds Bilbo, his curly haired coworker smiling at her.

"How can I help you Ori?" Bilbo asks as she arranges some flowers.

"Do you have any flowers that mean get well soon or healing? What about flowers that means….Affection." Bilbo gives her a knowing look, smiling as she turns and begins to pick through some flowers, humming to herself. Ori turns to look around the shop only to find her face to chest with her brother who scowls down at her. Which might have been more intimidating, did Dori not have lipstick smeared on his cheeks.

"Are the flowers for Bofur? I told Nori that hanging around him would bring nothing good about. He's nothing but a hippie. I know the idea of what may be under that hat is exciting Ori but," Ori shakes her head and holds up a hand.

"Okay, Dori. I can't take you seriously when you have lipstick smeared on your face. And ew, they're not for Bofur." She turns back towards Bilbo who hands over the now complete arrangement of lowers. Ori walks out of the store with a smile, watching as her brother reaches up and swipes a hand across his cheek.

The flowers never make it to the hospital. Ori's always too busy. When she arrives home, she drops her backpack off and rushes over to Bombur's house where the flowers are dropped off on the front porch. Then she returns home, sits at her desk and begins to work on a pile of homework, complete a paper or study for a test. It's nearing the end of the year and in a couple months, she'll graduate. There's no time now for much of anything and even when she gets the news that Bifur is coming home, Ori doesn't go to visit her.

A week after Bifur goes home, Ori steps outside to find Bofur sitting on the doorstep, twisting his hat thoughtfully between his hands. Ori hesitates for a moment then sinks down next to him, waiting for him to speak.

"She suffered from some broken bones and her foot will have to be in a brace for a while. Doctor said she's lucky to be alive but there will be permanent damage. She suffered a head injury that's going to leave her with a scar and a speech problem for likely the rest of her life. Likely she's never going to be on the force again." Bofur's voice cracks and Ori blinks furiously, trying to push back the sudden onslaught of tears. Bifur's alive. Alive but she won't be able to do what she loves anymore.

"Bifur misses ye terribly, ye know. Bombur and I talked about it. Ye're still in high school, still young lass. And Bifur, well she's going to require full time care now. It's going to be a full time job and it will be a battle. Ye aren't going to wake up one day and Bifur will magically be okay. It's going to be like forever." Ori's about to graduate she wants to say. She can do the fulltime job. But Bofur's words echo in her head: she's still young. And then Bofur is pulling the flowers from her hands and walking off, promising to give the flowers to Bifur.

And Ori continues to avoid Bifur. She continues in her routine or studying, homework and writing. When she passes by Bombur and his wife in the street with their children, she pretends not to see them. When Bofur and Nori sit on the front porch together Ori locks herself up inside the house. And no flowers are sent until the day she steps outside to sketch, that she finds Bofur once more.

He's the one holding flowers this time and has a smile on his face, shrugging sheepishly at Ori's questioning expression. He motions for her to sit down next to her and sighs, his shoulders sagging.

"So I've had myself some time to think. Bifur misses the flowers but she misses ye more. The flowers are being dried so she can save them but there's only one Ori. Bifur is not the Bifur ye met and probably will never fully be her again. But she'll still be yer Bifur if you allow her to be. It's a full time job and ye have to realize that. If ye don't then it will be a difficult thing to do, well it'll be a difficult thing already." It's two months later on her graduation day, that Ori finds herself leading a nervous, blushing Bifur into the house.

"Come on, I promise that they'll love you." Ori leans up and presses a kiss to Bifur's cheek. Bifur blushes pink under the attention, giving Ori's hand a squeeze as she leads her towards her bedroom.

"I'm going to show Bifur the kittens that Meeko had." Ori calls to Dori and Nori who watch with wide eyes. As the door closes the two brothers exchange glances.

"I thought for sure it was Bofur. I even gave him the shovel talk." Nori mutters.

"I'm almost one hundred percent sure that woman is the cop down the road." Dori says and looks down the hallway where his sister stood moments ago.

"I'm pretty sure that she's manhandled me to the ground before." Nori agrees. At this Ori sticks her head out her bedroom, a smile on her face.

"For the record, I'm the one who does the manhandling in the bedroom." Ori lets out a squeak as a pair of hands grabs her around the waist and tugs her back into the room.

* * *

This one was a gift for Littlenori. I will NOT be posting part eight on here. It will be on my aO3 account if you want to read it there. I just really don't want to mess with all the crossovers and nitpick with everything on here. I use the same pen name on there I do on here.


End file.
